A New York court has overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for rape, ordering a new trial in the case.
In a 4-3 decision, the state Court of Appeals said the judge overseeing the trial made an error by allowing prosecutors to introduce testimony from alleged victims of Weinstein, even though they were not part of the charges he faced.
The court also said the judge allowed the disgraced film producer to be cross-examined in a way that portrayed him in a “highly prejudicial” light.
The court ruled: “We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes. The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”
“It is an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behavior that destroys a defendant’s character but sheds no light on their credibility as related to the criminal charges lodged against them.”
Harvey is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for the conviction.
However, the 72-year-old will remain in jail as he was found guilty of committing another rape in Los Angeles, and was sentenced to a further 16 years in prison in 2022.
The former film producer was found guilty of rape and sexual assault back in February 2020.
A jury of 12 men and women found the then-67-year-old guilty on two of the five potential criminal charges he was accused of.
During his sentencing, Harvey was handed a 20 year prison stint for a first-degree criminal sex act on former production assistant, Miriam Haley.
The judge also imposed a three-year sentence for the third-degree rape of actress Jessica Mann.
According to The Guardian, Miriam’s victim impact statement claimed Harvey “not only stripped me of my dignity as a human being and as a woman…it diminished my confidence and faith in myself.”
Weinstein was accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour by over one hundred women during the #MeToo movement, which started in 2017.
His accusers include some of Hollywood’s most high-profile actresses, including Rose McGowen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Lupita Nyong’o and Ashley Judd.
